In the past, the handling of toxic liquids and gases had not been a great concern as the population of the world was much less and the world was being explored and mapped. Over the years, however, it became more evident that the world was of a limited size and disposing of toxic liquids into rivers and oceans and toxic gases into the atmosphere became increasingly problematic. Recently, land use and sale of land has become more and more regulated by federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations which often pass liability for environmental problems to previous owners and users of land. Also, the public in general has become more and more concerned about environmental problems and is often in fear of potential environmental hazards such as the disposal and handling of toxic or dangerous elements. Often in industry this has even caused a backlash so that any time a potential environmental problem is even at issue companies and businesses tend to shy away from even addressing the problem due to the fear of liability if they become involved as the owner or user of land or a supplier of systems for handling such potentially toxic elements.
This requirement for storing and handling of some types of toxic gases, e.g., chlorine gas, are even more common. Chlorine gas, for example, is commonly used to disinfect or sterilize water. The use of chlorine can be an important factor in controlling diseases, e.g., cholera, typhoid, and is generally more economical and effective in a gas state. Conventionally, above ground storage tanks are used for containing such gases, but leaks can occur with such tanks. One potential solution is to attempt to confine the leak in or from an above-ground storage tank to a room or building so that leaked gas does not escape from the room. Such a system, however, can be expensive and cumbersome. Also, such a system potentially exposes an operator within or needing to enter the room to the leaked gas.
Another potential solution is to attempt to bury or story a container underground such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,006 by Howard titled "Apparatus For Storing Chlorine Gas." An underground storage system, however, can be cumbersome because of the confined location and is not readily mobile to various desired location sites. Also, such a system does not readily address detoxifying the gas or reusing the leaked gas for a desired application.